Safe & Sustainable Seafood M. Bohling, Michigan Sea Grant May - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Safe & Sustainable Seafood

• M. Bohling, Michigan Sea Grant

May 17, 2019

L a ndsc a pe Conse r va tion Pla nning :

Using Natural Gre e n Infrastruc ture for Community Re silie nc y

SEMCOG Definition of Green Infrastructure:

Green infrastructure includes two broad categories: natural (undistributed environments such as wetlands, trees, prairies, lakes, rivers and streams) and constructed or built green infrastructure (such as rain gardens, bioswales, community gardens, and agricultural lands).

From 1874 to 1968, 60 miles of shipping channels were excavated in the Detroit River.

Channelization of the Detroit River – Livingston Channel

More than 25% of this region has combined sewers.

Combined Sewer Overflow

“The beach is perfectly safe for children. Although the water is somewhat polluted due to the beach being below city sewers, nothing is to be feared unless the water is swallowed” – Dr. Fred Adams, Medical Officer of Health, 1923

The Rouge River is one of 3 Great Lakes tributaries to catch on fire – late 1960s.

Industrial Pollution

Events like this led to the 1972 Clean Water Act with a lofty goal of "zero discharge" of pollutants into the nation's waters by 1985. The EPA was given authority to implement these acts as well. In 1948, oil-soaked waterfowl carcasses were delivered to the steps of Michigan’s Capitol in protest of lethal

• il pollution in the

Detroit River.

Oil saturated water

Wetland Losses

May 1, 2019 May 8, 2019

Per 1987 amendments to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the U. S. and Canada.

The Detroit River is an: Area

• f Concern (AOC)

14 possible Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) 11 were originally identified for the Detroit River:

• 1. Restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption
• 2. Tainting of fish and wildlife flavor – REMOVED 2013
• 3. Degradation of fish and wildlife populations
• 4. Fish tumors or other deformities
• 5. Bird and animal deformities or reproductive problems
• 6. Degradation of benthos
• 7. Restrictions on dredging activities
• 8. Eutrophication or undesirable algae –Never Impaired
• 9. Restrictions on drinking water consumption or taste and odor problems –

REMOVED 2011 10.Beach closings 11.Degradation of aesthetic 12.Added costs to agriculture or industry – Never Impaired 13.Degradation of phytoplankton and zooplankton populations – Never Impaired 14.Loss of fish and wildlife habitat

A guidance document for removing fish and wildlife related BUIs was completed 2009 and updated in May 2014.

Current Project Belle Isle Reef Belle Isle Flatwoods Milliken State Park US Steel Shoreline Wayne County Refuge Gateway Shoreline Celeron Island Detroit Upper Riverfront Parks Future Project Completed Project Blue Heron Lagoon South Fishing Pier Belle Isle Hydrologic Analysis Grassy Island Reef Hennepin Marsh Sugar Island Stony Island Lake Okonoka Fort Wayne Reef

The Guidance Plan requires completion of 14 specifically chosen, habitat restoration projects.

Belle Isle Habitat Projects

Blue heron lagoon habitat restoration

Ne w wa lkwa y b ridg e a nd o pe ning wa s c re a te d to a llo w fre sh wa te r fro m the rive r to e nte r Blue He ro n L a g o o n

Construction of habitat peninsula

Ma te ria l tha t wa s e xc a va te d fro m the b ridg e c a use wa y o pe ning wa s use d to c o nstruc t ha b ita t pe ninsula

South fishing pier

So uth F ishing Pie r b e fo re re sto ra tio n, sa nd b o tto m de vo id o f a ny struc ture

Co mple te d pro je c t inc lude s de e p po o ls, ro c k struc ture a nd sub me rg e nt we e d b e ds to impro ve fish ha b ita t

• Restored hydrology to support

enhancement of the 200-acre wet-mesic flatwoods community

• Restored lake water quality
• Great Lakes fish passage into and

through Lake Okonoka

• 45 acres of additional Great Lakes

fish nursery

• 400 linear feet of restored Great

Lakes shoreline along Belle Isle’s south coast

L a ke Oko no ka

Lake Okonoka Habitat Restoration Project Master Plan

E xisting de e p po o l o n rig ht re ma ine d undra ine d. Ae ria l vie w

• f L

a ke Oko no ka during the dra ining pro c e ss.

L a ke is de e pe ne d to impro ve wa te r flo w

Turtle basking logs, woody debris bundles, fish spawning gravel and other habitat structures are placed around the lake

Wo rk to c o nstruc t ne w we ir sto p lo g struc ture

Ha ndic a ppe d a c c e ssib le ka ya k po rta g e do c ks insta lle d o n e a c h side o f the sto p lo g we ir

Sug a r I sla nd Pro je c t

Sug a r I sla nd suffe rs fro m the e ffe c ts o f c urre nt a nd wa ve drive n e ro sio n

L a rg e ha rdwo o d tre e s a re b e ing lo st a s c liffs e ro de into rive r

Sugar Island Habitat restoration

Proposed restoration plan

Sto ny I sla nd Pro je c t site

Stony island upper bay restoration

Thank you

THANK YOU!